Kylie

Trenton and I had taken first watch. I sat down, feeling sort of empty inside. Trenton seemed to be getting distant, and I hated seeing him like that. It’s almost like I’m not here. I watch him pace around, constantly looking out into the forest as though he’ll see something.

“We’ve already seen him,” he says.

“When?” I ask, getting more nervous.

“Right when we got in,” he says through clenched teeth.

“Oh,” I whispered. I pulled my legs up to my chest and looked up towards the sky. The stars glittered like diamonds, twinkling brightly. Now I know where that song comes from. “At least the stars are pretty here,” I say. He stops pacing long enough to look at me. I patted the ground, motioning for him to come sit with me. He shook his head.

“Why not?” I asked, getting irritated.

“I… I can’t,” he says, his eyes flitting around.

“Why?”

“If something happened, I would never forgive myself. I need to be ready at all times.” I looked out into the darkness. Nothing was there. Why couldn’t he just relax? I turned to tell him he needs to stop being so paranoid, but he wasn’t there. Panic filled my chest, and I let out a scream.

“TRENTON’S GONE!” I shout at everyone. They all sit up lazily, and I continue shouting at them. “He was here just a moment ago, but now he’s gone!” I cry. Tears threaten to spill over, but I hold them back. I need to stay strong for this final fight. I swear, if Slender doesn’t return my boyfriend…

“Where’s Serena?” Kathryn muttered, wiping her eyes. Everyone jumped to their feet, like they just realized where they were.

“Slender,” I mutter. “We need to split up and look around,” I say to the group. I get no response. “Guys?” I turn, but the whole campsite is gone. Everything is gone. “Hello?” I call into the darkness. I get no response. Then I hear a faint cry. It sounds like a cry of pain. I run in the direction of the sound. It gets louder and more intense. I finally run into a small clearing in the trees. Trenton lies on the ground, screaming in pain. I rush over to him, asking him what’s wrong. He points over to the trees. I turn and gasp. Slender. I yanked out my knife and threw it at him, but it missed and thudded into the tree next to him. His tentacles reached out from behind his back and yanked it out of the tree, throwing it back. I saw where it was going and moved just in the nick of time. But I didn’t hear it thud into a tree. It was a sickening sound. I turned, horror crossing my mind. Trenton had managed to stand up. Right in the way of the knife. He stared down at it, unsure of what was happening. He looked back up, then collapsed. Slender was gone, and Trenton was lying on the grounds.

“Trenton! TRENTON! Don’t die on me,” I shouted at him. His eyes stared off into the distance, and I heard him breathing shallow gasps, and then I heard him stop. I leaned down my ear to his chest. That warm chest, so alive, so happy, now was empty and hollow. No sound came from it. The knife had disappeared somehow, but that didn’t matter. My boyfriend was dead. I leaned my head down into my hands and started crying. Sobbing. Weeping over the body of my dead boyfriend. I touched his chest, expecting him to come to life any second, to gasp for breath. But not this time. He was dead.

“Trenton,” I whispered. “Please, come back. Please… please… please…” I cried. Tears fell in streams off my cheeks onto his face. His pale, lifeless face. The light that was usually in his eyes was gone. He was dead. I buried my face in his shirt and cried. I don’t know for how long, or if the Slenderman was coming back, or if it even mattered. Trenton was dead. Sobs engulfed me, wracking my body. I couldn’t stop shaking. I was in hysterics. Trenton was gone. My world was dim now.

I don’t know how long I had cried before I realized I should find the others. Trenton’s body was cold, and I had passed the time crying and laying flowers on him. I stood up and looked at him one last time. There was no light here anymore. Only tears. I turned to leave, then saw him.

Trenton.

He stood at the edge of the clearing, taking in the scene. He looked shocked, and his cheeks were tear-stained. I couldn’t believe it. I ran forward and hugged him, squeezed him, felt his chest to make sure it was an illusion. I felt a beat, then looked up into his eyes. They were confused, but they had that light in there. I stood on him toes and kissed him. It was the best, most alive kiss ever. We embraced, stayed locked for minutes, hours, days, years. I don’t even know, but it was beautiful. I pulled away.

“Don’t ever die,” I whispered.

“I won't,” he whispered back. “I will always be here for you.” We kept hugging, and tears leaked out of my eyes. I sniffed and looked at him. He smiled, that warm, caring smile.

“Let’s go find the others,” he suggested. I nodded. As we walked away from the dead body, the fake, the illusion, a note appeared, nailed to the tree next to us. I grabbed it, then showed him it. It looked like a torn scrap from a larger piece of paper. It was blank on both sides. I showed it to Trenton, and he revealed one just like it.

“Maybe it’s like a puzzle,” he suggested.

“Yeah… it could be…” I repeated.

“How do you know that was an illusion back there?” he asked.

“Because it’s not you. It’s dead, you’re alive. And I’m not ready to believe you’re dead.”